Pounds of butter made, 14,000,000; cheese, 1,500,000; maple sugar, 250,000; molasses, 9000 gallons; wool produced, 3,000,000 pounds; flax, 175,000 pounds; tobacco, 9000 pounds; hay, 7000 tons. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. The means of internal communication in Illinois, except in one or two favored localities, are as yet very limited. Some of her interior rivers are navigable, and a cordon of navigable water almost insulates the state; but until access to these be facilitated by railroads, their use to commerce must be comparatively small. Nevertheless, there are few ports that equal Chicago in its commerce, and Alton, on the Mississippi, is fast rising into importance; nor is Galena to be left unnamed in the list of commercial places. At these ports, as well as those on the Illinois River and Canal, a vast amount of business is transacted—that of Chicago with the east, and that of Galena, Alton, &c., chiefly with the south. The interests of the two sections are partially blended by the canal, which opens the lakes to the south and west, and will be completely united when the vast system of railroads in course of construction is brought into action. The length of railroad now in operation within the state is 287 miles; the length in progress is 1822 miles; and the length projected and surveyed about 600 miles. The principal points from and to which the several lines extend are, Chicago, where at least seven lines centre; Alton, which is the terminus of three lines; Galena, which is connected with Chicago on the east, and Cairo on the south; Cairo, where the great Central Railroad connects with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad; Rock Island, the west terminus of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad; and on the Indiana line, Vincennes, Terre Haute, &c., from which latter places the principal east and west lines pass, uniting the system of Illinois with those of Indiana, Ohio, &c. All the lines referred to will be completed within the next three years, and by that time Illinois will have fairly entered upon that great commercial destiny that awaits her career. GOVERNMENT. The chief magistrate is chosen for four years, by the people, viva voce, and cannot serve two terms in succession. The lieutenant governor (who is, ex officio, president of the Senate) and the senators are also elected quadrennially. The members of the House of Repre sentatives are elected for two years. The popular elections and the legislative sessions are held biennially. The Senate cannot consist of less than one third, nor more than one half, the number composing the other branch. All white males above the age of 21 years, who have resided six months within the state, are qualified voters. Slavery is prohibited by the constitution to amend which instrument a convention must be called. Elections are decided by a plurality of votes. -- EDUCATION. The act of admission to the Union provides for a reservation of one thirty-sixth part of all the public lands for school purposes; and section numbered 16 has been accordingly designated and set apart, in each township, for the benefit of its inhabitants. A common fund, for the promotion of education generally, was also established by the United States government, through the annual payment to the state of three per cent. of the net avails of the public lands within its limits. Of this fund, a sixth part is appropriated to the erection and support of a collegiate institution. Other funds, to a very generous extent, have likewise been provided; from all which sources a large annual income is derived. Yet the subject of common schools has not received that degree of regard and attention which its immeasurable importance demands; although there are, in many towns, primary schools of fair character, and occasionally a seminary of higher grade. Several colleges exist; but they are mostly exclusive or somewhat sectarian in their organization; each of the following denominations having a special institution, viz., Old School Presbyterians, New School Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists. One of these, at Alton, was liberally endowed by Dr. B. Shurtleff, of Boston, Massachusetts, and bears his name. There are a number of respectable academies and literary associations in va rious parts of the state; and it is to be hoped that measures will be taken to establish the school fund of the state on a basis corresponding to the liberality of Congress, and to the example set by Ohio and other neighboring states. RELIGION. The most numerous sect are the Methodists, including their different varieties. Then follow the Baptists and Presbyterians, with their several ramifications. The Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Dunkers have each from eight to twelve congregations; and there are small societies of Roman Catholics, Quakers, and Mormons. The proportion of professors of religion has been estimated at about one tenth of the whole population. POPULATION. During the thirty years prior to 1840, the population of Illinois increased from 12,282 to 476,183, of whom 3600 were persons of color. In 1850 the population was 851,470, of whom 5366 were persons of color. In 1855, population over 1,000,000. NAUVOO. The town of Nauvoo is situated on the Mississippi, at the second rapid below the Falls of St. Anthony. It is located on a bluff, which is distinguished by an easy slope of great extent. The plain at the summit is broad enough for the erection of an immense city. Nauvoo was intended by the Mormons, its founders, to be a vast and beautiful city, and once contained 18,000 inhabitants. The Mormon Temple was a building without a peer in the west. It was 128 feet long, 88 feet wide, 65 feet high to the top of the cornice, and 163 feet to the top of the cupola. It was built of polished limestone, which resembled marble, and its architecture was Doric. It could accommodate about 3000 persons. . In the basement of the Temple was a large stone basin, supported by twelve oxen of colossal size. In this font the Mormons were baptized. This building was reduced to a heap of ruins by an incendiary in October, 1848. The Mormon troubles furnish a curious chapter for the history of Illinois. On the 10th of December, 1840, the legislature of Illinois passed an act to incorporate the city of Nauvoo, and several acts highly favorable to the prosperity of the Mormon population were passed in the course of the same session. But it seems that these people, in their enthusiasm for their religious principles, and for the glorification of their prophet and ruler, Joseph Smith, forgot their duty to the government of the state. They adopted several ordinances which virtually annulled the laws. Among these were the ordinances permitting marriage without license, and making it penal for an officer to serve process in Nauvoo, if the said process was not approved by the Mormon authorities. The continuance of such ordinances, and the practice under them, at length aroused the other inhabitants of Hancock county, and attracted the attention of the governor. Frequent contests en |